Graham Fleming facts for kids

Graham R. Fleming is a brilliant scientist and professor of chemistry. He teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also part of the Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute. This institute is also located at UCB.

Professor Fleming's team uses special tools to study tiny things. They use very fast light pulses to look at how energy moves. This helps them understand how plants turn sunlight into energy. They also study tiny materials like carbon nanotubes. Their work has shown that something called quantum electronic coherence is very important. This means tiny quantum effects help living things harvest energy.

A Scientist's Journey: Education and Career

Early Life and Studies

Graham R. Fleming was born on December 3, 1949. He was born in a town called Barrow in England. In 1971, he earned his first degree in chemistry. He studied at the University of Bristol. Later, in 1974, he received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry. He completed this at the University College London and the Royal Institution.

After his Ph.D., he worked as a postdoctoral researcher. This means he did more research after his main studies. He worked at three different places. These included the California Institute of Technology and the University of Melbourne.

Building a Research Team

In 1979, Professor Fleming started his own research team. He became a professor at the University of Chicago. He quickly moved up the ranks there. By 1985, he was a full professor. For ten years, he held a special position. It was called the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Services Professor.

While at the University of Chicago, he led the chemistry department. He also helped start a new research center. It was called the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics. This was the first new research institute at the university in 50 years!

Moving to California

In 1997, Professor Fleming moved his research team. They went to the University of California, Berkeley. There, he became a professor of chemistry. He also helped start a new division. It was the physical biosciences division. This was at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

In 2002, he received another special title. He became the Melvin Calvin Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. This was at UCB. He also helped create the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3). This institute is also based at UC Berkeley. From 2009 to 2015, he was the vice-chancellor for research at UCB. This means he helped guide all the research happening at the university.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Professor Fleming has received many important awards. These awards recognize his amazing work in science. Here are some of them:

• He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991.
• In 1994, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. This is a very old and respected scientific group.
• He received awards from the Inter-American Photochemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1996.
• In 1998, he won the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry. This is a major award from the American Chemical Society.
• He also received the Harrison Howe Award in Physical Chemistry in 1999.
• In 2002, he won the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy. This award is from the American Physical Society.
• He became a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2007. This is one of the highest honors for a scientist in the U.S.
• In 2008, he received the Ahmed Zewail Award in Ultrafast Science and Technology.
• He won the Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in 2009. This award is for work in the chemistry of liquids.